Measles outbreak in central Ohio might be ending

Health officials are cautiously optimistic that the measles outbreak that spread throughout several Ohio counties this year is ending just as schools are going back into session.

Health officials are cautiously optimistic that the measles outbreak that spread throughout several Ohio counties this year is ending just as schools are going back into session.

Mumps, however, is still prevalent in central Ohio.

“The challenge is that we need to make sure that everybody’s protected so we don’t have a resurgence,” said Columbus Public Health spokesman Jose Rodriguez.

No case of measles has been reported in Ohio since July 23. The state will consider the outbreak officially over when two incubation periods, or 42 consecutive days, have passed.

As of yesterday, there had been 377 cases in Ashland, Coshocton, Crawford, Highland, Holmes, Knox, Richland, Stark and Wayne counties.

Measles cases are at a 20-year high in the United States, driven largely by the outbreak among unvaccinated Amish populations in Ohio.

At the same time, two to five cases of mumps have been reported each week for the past month, Rodriguez said.

As of yesterday, 479 mumps cases had been reported this year.

Rodriguez said Columbus Public Health is working with local school systems to make sure that students are current on their vaccinations.

“Anytime you have individuals coming together, working, coming to school or living in close quarters, you’re always at risk,” he said.

Ohio State University, which had many of the initial mumps cases, has launched a public-awareness campaign dubbed “Don’t Assume You’re Immune” to encourage faculty and staff members and students to check their vaccination status, a spokesman said via email.

Reported cases of mumps peaked in early April, when the health department saw as many as 10 per day, Rodriguez said. Summer break helped lower the rate.

“Though (the rate is) considerably lower than it used to be at the peak of the outbreak, when compared to what we usually have — one case a year — it’s considerably higher,” Rodriguez said.

He said no mumps case has been reported in Delaware County for seven weeks. None has been reported recently in Madison County, either, he said, though he could not provide specifics.

In Knox County, where 195 measles cases were reported, the health department is working with schools to ensure that students are vaccinated, spokeswoman Pam Palm said.

Students entering kindergarten are supposed to have had the combination measles-mumps-rubella vaccine. However, students may skip vaccines if their parents oppose them for religious or philosophical reasons.

Vaccine opposition has grown in recent years, and by the 2013-14 school year, 4,181 Ohio children (1.5 percent of new enrollees) were exempted for nonmedical reasons. A decade earlier, less than 0.5 percent of new students (1,239) had parents with objections.

Mary DiOrio, an epidemiologist in the Ohio Department of Health, said the two outbreaks are a reminder that vaccines are essential because “we’re only a plane ride away, for example, for measles.”

jryan@dispatch.com

@Jimryan015

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